Bridesmaid dress shopping--places to avoid/places to go

ladybug7485 · February 2010

Any suggestions? The only limitation (and I know it's a big one) is that it is in Chicago and not the suburbs. Not that I'm discriminating but all of my bmaids are coming from out of town so I'd like to be able to do it in the city and not be running around the suburbs.
Please tell me any places you would definitely avoid or places where you've had good experiences! Thanks!

karijohannsen · February 2010

David's Bridal has been great to work with and they are high quality yet affordable for the girls. It's on Elston.

MINDMNMO · February 2010

I second David's Bridal on Elston. I went there looking for wedding dresses. It's a newer store so it's nice. I would definitely recommend going there on a weekday night vs. the weekend. It's a zoo on the weekends and you don't get as much personailized service then.

mandybear7 · February 2010

J. Crew at 900 N. Michigan. It is one of the few J. Crew stores in the country that carries samples of the bridesmaid dresses.

seventiespop · February 2010

This isn't your traditional bridal/bridesmaid shop but my girls all ordered their dresses from J Crew. The store in the 900 N Michigan mall carries their bridal collection and they have wedding specialists. We worked with Sara Mikkelson and she was awesome, she was able to swing an additional 20% off the dresses even though they were already on sale with free delivery to each girls house (3 girls are out of state). She also honored the discount for me when I later decided I wanted to order a sale dress for me to wear to the rehearsal. They carry sample sizes in all the dresses but they have some of the styles in multiple sizes (due to returns). In fact, two of my BM's were able to try on their exact size dress (a 4 and a 12) in a different color at the store.

erinlyn16 · February 2010

If you go with Jcrew make sure to make an appointment early they book up fast, especially on the weekends.

Sparkette19 · February 2010

We found our BM dresses at Eva's of Chicago. It's not "downtown" / Mag mile, but it is Chicago. I knew what I wanted going in so it was rather simple, I had them pull the dress and the girls tried it on. They seemed to have a nice selection of dresses to look through. They placed their order in November and they came in a few months early. One of my girls is in Indiana and she had the dress shipped to her with no problems.

Eva's Bridals of Chicago
3339 North Harlem Avenue
Chicago, IL 60634

Ph: 773.777.3311
Fax: 773.777.6473

Regular Store Hours:

Monday - Thursday 11:00 - 8:00 pm
Friday 11:00 - 4:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 - 5:00 pm
Sunday 12:00 - 4:00 pm

KVMW9182010 · February 2010

I really didn't like House of Brides near Chicago/Wells. Our consultant was very rude to us, didn't help us put on the dresses, ignored us for most of the visit, and then when we had 10 minutes left in our appointment, she finally shows up to give me color samples. I had actually gone there when dress shopping, was given the same consultant, and she was very rude to me when she asked where I ended up getting my dress and why not through them.

I loved Bella Bridesmaid - their price point is a bit higher, but their service is suburb, have a great assortment, and gave us a heads up on which designers had promotions going on. We ended up getting Lula Kate dresses through them with their winter discount.

sgylling · February 2010

I second JCrew! That is where we went and I agree with all of the above. They do book up fast. This week when I was in, I tried on a dress to order for my rehearsal dinner, it was backordered until April 13th! The bridal consultant found it for me (through their wish list program) and it literally shipped before I left the building. So great!

The second place I really liked was Bella Bridesmaid. Like PP said, they are a bit pricier. But they have really cute styles that aren't so typical bridesmaid.

I didn't think HOB on Chicago was very impressive. I have ordered 2 dresses there in the past.

Have fun!!

beautifulnryan · February 2010

In the city, I only went to Eva's Bridal and David's Bridal. Everyone was really nice and helpful and offered their opinions when asked.

I went to a few HOB stores in the suburbs (Naperville and Schaumburg - they were all nice) and I know there is one in the city (never went to). FYI - the cost of the dress at HOB locations were vastly different from the ones on HOB online. The dress I picked out for my girls were $180+, but online, they were $140+. (And on a weird note...their online prices could be different on each computer. Two of my friends got $140+ while my computer was getting $163; we ordered off my friend's computer).

Oh and my friend recommends Vera Wang - she said some of the bridesmaid dresses are pretty reasonably priced, so I'd check them out.

Sparkette19 · February 2010

I would avoid any HOB like the plague! I bought my wedding dress there in JUNE. I mistakenly gave them my real wedding date figuring it's a year away (getting married in June). I was advised that my dress would be ready in the middle of December. Well, I called in the middle of December and was informed that my dress won't be ready until the end of April. I went shopping early and placed my order early so that I would not feel rushed and I feel rushed anyway.

Our consultant was in the restroom the entire time and my mom had to help me too. My consultant said that she ate too much fiber and was having digestive problems. If I didn't have wine before I went in there I probably would have probably wouldn't have been so forgiving. I totally regret buying my dress there.

Bridesmaid dress shopping--places to avoid/places to go

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